The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Main Figures Facts and Figures Report which examines road fatalities on European roads. According to this Report, there has been a 12% decrease in road fatalities for the EU27 between 2019 and 2024, with far more males than females being killed in road crashes. Moreover, 48% of total road fatalities are vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists, moped riders and motorcyclists) and over a half of road fatalities occur on rural roads (53%). On urban roads, the share of killed pedestrians is highest with 34%.  

The International Traffic Safety Data and Analysis Group (IRTAD) of the International Transport Forum (ITF/OECD), the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and the Hellenic Institute of Transportation Engineers (HITE) are co-organizing the 8th IRTAD International Conference: Better Road Safety Data for Better Safety Performance which will be held in Athens, Greece, on 15-17 April 2026, with the support of FERSI and ECTRI. The objectives of the Conference are to discuss improvements in the quality of data systems and data analysis globally, by fostering knowledge transfer among participants, with particular emphasis on road safety performance. The Conference is open to all and is primarily for the attention of road safety researchers, data analysts, those involved in collecting safety data and developing databases, and all those using the results of research to advise decision makers on road safety matters. Registration is open. Draft Programme can be found here. 

The European Road Transport Research Advisory Council (ERTRAC) has published a Position Paper titled “Road Transport Research in Horizon Europe Follow-up”. ERTRAC and the Associations supporting this Position Paper are convinced that dedicated funding for Road Transport Research is necessary to address the systemic road transport research needs critical to improve the efficiency, sustainability, safety and resilience of the whole European mobility system. Furthermore, it highlights the need for continued investment in vehicle technologies, infrastructure, traffic management, automation, and connectivity, as well as strong public–private cooperation, which are critical for delivering safer, cleaner, and more efficient road transport systems.  

Marios Sekadakis has successfully defended his PhD dissertation titled: “Safety Assessment and Behaviour Modelling of Take-Over Dynamics in Automated Driving: From Human Response to Network-Level Simulation”, under the supervision of NTUA Prof. George Yannis. This PhD developed an integrated framework to explain how take-over response, driving performance and safety in automated driving at SAE Levels 2 and 3 are shaped by transition context, driver state, interface design and vehicle state dynamics. By combining systematic review and meta-analysis, simulator experimentation, data-driven modelling, behavioural profiling and network-level traffic simulation, the dissertation examined the full chain from individual re-engagement behaviour to vehicle motion and mixed-traffic safety effects. This work demonstrates that safety during take-over transitions cannot be explained by take-over duration alone. It demonstrates how Human-Machine Interface (HMI) design, automation level, behavioural variability and roadway context interact to shape both vehicle-level and network-level safety, identifying where and why safety margins collapse during transitions. The findings provide a consistent evidence base for safer take-over management and more robust evaluation of future automated driving systems.    

Maria Oikonomou has successfully defended her PhD thesis titled “Multilevel crash risk assessment under autonomous vehicle integration: From partial to full autonomy through urban traffic simulation”, under the supervision of NTUA Prof. George Yannis. The thesis develops a validated, simulation-based framework for estimating crash risk during the transition from partial to full Autonomous Vehicle (AV) deployment. A systematic review establishes an evidence-based repository of AV behavioural parameters to support traffic microsimulation. The methodology integrates conflict-based Surrogate Safety Measures and a novel Time-To-Collision-based conflict-to-crash-risk conversion procedure, validated through k-means clustering against observed crash patterns. Applied to a high-fidelity simulation model of central Athens, the framework evaluates fifteen AV deployment scenarios across varying penetration levels. The multilevel assessment includes road-level modelling with XGBoost and SHAP to quantify the influence of traffic, infrastructure and automation, and conflict-level spatial analysis using the Getis-Ord Gi* statistic and a binomial GAM to detect high-risk hotspots. Results reveal that crash risk initially increases in mixed-traffic conditions before decreasing as automated behaviour becomes dominant and stabilises network interactions.    

The European Commission has recently published findings from Trendline project on key road safety performance indicators (KPIs), revealing significant gaps in compliance with basic safety measures across EU Member States. This data paints a troubling picture of speeding compliance, particularly in urban environments. In many countries, compliance falls below 50% on city roads—precisely where pedestrians, cyclists, and other vulnerable road users are most at risk. Furthermore, while driver seat-belt use shows strong compliance, often exceeding 95% on motorways, rear-seat belt use tells a different story. Moreover, although the data shows high overall compliance with alcohol limits, at approximately 98, the seemingly small 2% non-compliance rate translates to roughly five million impaired drivers on EU roads. These indicators support road safety strategies and monitoring efforts at both national and European levels as the EU works toward its 2030 road safety targets. 

The Cracow University of Technology together with EWGT are organizing the 28th Euro Working Group on Transportation Conference (EWGT 2026) which will take place in Krakow, Poland on 2-4 September 2026.  EWGT is a premier international forum for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers in the field of transportation and logistics. This event will bring together researchers and practitioners to advance the application of operations research methods, mathematical and statistical models, and computational algorithms in transport analysis, planning, and operations. Researches can submit their abstracts until 1 March 2026. 

The 2025 infographic of NTUA Road Safety Observatory (www.nrso.ntua.gr) highlights one more very intensive and highly fruitful year. The nrso scientific team with high dedication, efficiency and expertise continues to grow and excel, being active in 30 innovative research projects, succeeded to publish 103 scientific papers (32 in peer reviewed journals) – our best performance ever, and travelled around the world in hundreds of meetings to further develop and promote road safety science. We persist with passion for evidence based decisions towards a new culture of calm and safe roads everywhere and for all. 

The European Association of Operators of Toll Road Infrastructures (ASECAP) is organizing the ASECAP Days 2026 which will take place in Bratislava, Slovakia on 27-29 May 2026. This Conference will focus on key challenges and developments shaping the future of toll road infrastructure and motorway operations. More than 80 high-level speakers will share knowledge experiences. Registration is open. 

The International Transport Forum (ITF) is organizing the ITF 2026 Summit which will take place in Leipzig, Germany, on 6-8 May 2026, under the broad thematic framework “Fostering Resilient and Inclusive Net-zero Transport”. The ITF Annual Summit is the world’s largest gathering of transport ministers and the premier global transport policy event. Since 2008, ministers from ITF’s 69 member countries, heads of international organisations, parliamentarians, and leaders in industry and academia have met annually during the event. 

The International Cooperation on Theories and Concepts in Traffic safety (ICTCT) in cooperation with FPZ are organizing the 38th ICTCT Conference which will take place in Zagreb, Croatia, on 22-23 October 2026. The objective of this Conference is to support the understanding and the execution of suitable approaches to move towards a transportation system without severely injured or killed road users. This year’s theme is “Road Safety in the Age of AI: Innovations, Challenges, and Opportunities,” focusing on the role of artificial intelligence in traffic safety. Researchers can submit their work until 10 April 2026. 

The Association for European Transport is organizing the 54th European Transport Conference which will take place in Porto, Portugal on 9-11 September 2026. This Conference provides an excellent opportunity for sharing, learning, inspiring and network building, crossing all stages of transport planning from analyses to delivery and all transport modes. The conference attracts transport policy makers, practitioners and researchers from all over Europe and beyond, and encourages participation from professionals of all levels of experience. Researchers can submit their work until 6 February 2026.  

The Transportation Research Board (TRB) organized with great success the 105th Annual Meeting, which was held in Washington DC, on 11-15 January 2026. The meeting program covered all transportation modes, addressing topics of interest to policy makers, administrators, practitioners, researchers, and representatives of government, industry, and academic institutions. More than 650 workshops and sessions took place, with over 4.000 presentations.  NTUA actively contributed with the following road safety papers and presentations:

• Evaluating the Long-Term Effects of Telematics Driver Feedback on Speeding Behavior: A Survival Analysis Approach
• Improving driver safety tolerance zone through holistic analysis of road, vehicle and behavioural risk factors: A Comparison using driving simulator and naturalistic data
• Two-Stage Optimization Framework for Traffic Anomaly Detection Based on Vision-Language Models
• Unsupervised Detection of Harsh Cornering Behavior Using Smartphone based Telematics and Infrastructure Data
•  Cooperative, Connected and Automated Mobility Policy Support Tools

Vehicles Journal has recently launched the 2nd Edition of the Special Issue titled: “Emerging Solutions and Technologies for Smart Mobility and Vehicle Safety in Transportation” aiming to present cutting-edge research on novel solutions and technological advancements in smart mobility, transportation safety, and intelligent vehicle systems. The manuscript submission deadline is until 25 December 2026. This Special Issue welcomes contributions that explore data-driven approaches to traffic management, machine learning applications for driver behaviour analysis, crash prediction and prevention strategies, automation in transportation systems, and the role of connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) in improving road safety. Guest editors of this special issue from NTUA are: Dr. Eva Michelaraki and Prof. George Yannis.

The European Association of Operators of Toll Road Infrastructures (ASECAP) together with ASFA are organizing the 18th ASECAP Road Safety Conference which will be held in Chambéry, France on 9 March 2026 in the framework of the 17th World Congress on Road Winter Service, Resilience and Decarbonisation. This year’s theme is “Building & Managing the Resilient Motorways of Tomorrow: Intelligent, Safe, Secure and Human-Centered”. The Conference will provide a high-level platform for discussion on innovative approaches, technologies and policies aimed at improving safety on road networks, with a particular focus on operational experience and concrete solutions. Participation is free upon registration. 

This year we followed our dreams with passion, system and stamina, promoting intensively road safety scientific excellence and safer mobility everywhere and for all. At mid-way to the decade target of -50% road fatalities, we need to further strengthen our individual and collective efforts to sincerely include traffic safety into the mobility agenda and persist in implementing the vision zero traffic fatalities. We thank you all for the excellent cooperation and we are sending you our very best wishes for Merry Christmas and a Very Lucky New Year, full of personal and professional achievements. 

The Hellenic Institute of Customer Service has recently honored NTUA in collaboration with Global Link, recognizing their excellence in customer experience and responsible service practices. The awards received were Best Mobile Customer Experience and Best Organisation for ESG Factors & Practices in Customer Service. The recognition was based on the SmartMaps digital platform, with the SmartMaps website used as the candidate product. The platform combines data from mobile phone sensors and machine learning algorithms, enabling users to select safer and more environmentally friendly routes, while improving overall traffic efficiency. These distinctions highlight the value of applying innovative digital solutions to address key social and environmental challenges and reflect the impact of collaboration between academia and industry in delivering customer-centric and sustainable services.

The European Road Safety Charter of the European Commission, has recently published a new Article focusing on driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, which remains one of the leading causes of road crashes. Despite longstanding legislation and enforcement efforts, an estimated 25% of EU road fatalities are alcohol-related, and drug impairment is an increasing concern in fatal collisions. Addressing driving under the influence requires an integrated, multi-measure approach, combining strong health policies to reduce alcohol consumption, lower legal BAC limits, visible and consistent enforcement, and targeted road safety campaigns to shift social norms and promote alternative transport options. 

The Horizon Europe research project IMPROVA has recently released its 3rd Newsletter, focusing on enhancing road safety by addressing the complexities of long-term consequences (LTC) caused by road traffic crashes. This version of the Newsletter mainly focuses on this year’s 1st IMPROVA PANEL where the IMPROVA partners, each representing a crucial part of the consortium (academy, research, medical, and industry), presented an overview of what has happened in the project since it started. Moreover In 2025, IMPROVA strengthened its presence in the international road safety research community, presenting its findings and research approach at several key conferences and expert meetings in Europe and Asia. In total, IMPROVA participated in 11 industry events, conferences and stakeholder meetings globally. 

The Horizon Europe research project CulturalRoad has recently launched a Survey to gather perspectives and better understand users’ priorities. The Project  is working on new methodologies that integrate cultural and geographical diversity into Cooperative, Connected and Automated Mobility (CCAM) deployment plans, with the aim of ensuring that CCAM improves mobility for everyone. The questionnaire covers physical limitations, digital accessibility, safety measures, and other ethical considerations related to mobility in general, and CCAM in particular. No prior knowledge is required to participate – everyone’s experience is valuable. The Survey takes from 5 to 30 minutes to answer and participation is possible either anonymously or by name. Take part in the Survey here. 

The Hellenic Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport recently launched a road safety campaign, to draw public attention on the safety of Greek drivers with focus on the risk caused to other’s lives. This Campaign aims to reduce serious traffic crashes and fatalities and save all road users lives, boosting road safety awareness and respect to other road users and the new Road Traffic Code. 

A paper titled Incentive-Based Telematics and Driver Safety: Insights from a Naturalistic Study of Behavioral Change authored by Armira Kontaxi, Harris Sideris, Dimitrios Oikonomopoulos and George Yannis has been published in Sensors. This paper investigates driver profiling and behavioral change using high-resolution telematics data collected through the OSeven DrivingStar smartphone application. The naturalistic driving experiment was divided into two main phases: a baseline period with personalized feedback (Phase A) and an incentive-based phase (Phase B) comprising two gamified driving challenges with distinct reward criteria. The analysis of K-means clustering identified three driver profiles — Low-Exposure Cautious, Balanced/Average, and High-Risk Drivers — based on exposure, harsh events, speeding, and mobile phone use. The findings indicate that the Balanced/Average group exhibited statistically significant improvements during both challenges, reducing speeding frequency and intensity, while High-Risk Drivers achieved moderate reductions in speeding intensity. Furthermore, this Study contributes to the growing body of research on gamified driver feedback by linking behavioral clustering with responsiveness to incentives, providing a foundation for adaptive and personalized road safety interventions. 

The Horizon 2020 research project PHOEBE has recently released the PHOEBE 6th Newsletter, which provides information on the latest outcomes of the EU-funded ‘Predictive Approaches for Safer Urban Environment’ (PHOEBE) project aiming to increase the road safety of vulnerable road users, especially those who use active mobility and e-scooters. PHOEBE partners are strengthening their collaboration beyond the project framework, supported by initiatives such as the official accreditation of The Floow as an AiRAP Attribute Supplier. 

The International Road Federation (IRF) has honoured Professor George Yannis with the IRF Personality of the Year Award 2025, recognising his exceptional leadership, scientific contribution and global impact in advancing road safety and sustainable mobility. His academic influence is reflected in a remarkable publication record of over 1,000 scientific papers, widely cited around the world, and contribution in more than 350 research and engineering projects. Beyond academia and institutional leadership, Professor Yannis has also demonstrated an inspiring personal commitment to safer cities. In November 2024, he completed an extraordinary challenge: running 30 Marathons in 30 months to promote the adoption of city-wide 30 km/h speed limits. By awarding Professor Yannis the Personality of the Year 2025, the IRF celebrates not only a distinguished professional career, but a lifelong dedication to making mobility safer for all, through science, advocacy and personal action. 

The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has published the 48th PIN Flash Report titled “Tapping the potential for reducing work-related road deaths and injuries“. This Report examines how governments, Authorities and employers are addressing the issue of work-related road deaths, identifies examples of good practice and highlights remaining gaps. Specifically, data from 16 European countries show that work-related road deaths account for 30-40% of all road deaths, but the official numbers are distorted by inconsistent reporting, missing data and incompatible national definitions. The findings underscore the need for closer alignment between road safety and Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) systems, stronger data integration and clearer accountability for road risk management at every level.   

A global coalition of partners announced their commitment to the Implementation of the United Nations Decade of Sustainable Transport 2026-2035, to accelerate the transition towards inclusive, safe, green and efficient road systems for all. More precisely, IRF, Arup, NTRO, Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety, FIDIC, iRAP, ORIS and World Wildlife Fund joined forces to translate the vision of the Decade into concrete action by providing strategic direction and practical support for those who plan, build and manage road systems. At its core stands the Roadmaps for Change series will outline policy actions, technical standards and tools, replicable practices, innovation and indicators of progress, together with a capacity-building programme for trainings and peer-learning activities, with a special focus on road and transport public Authorities.  

A paper titled State-of-the-art review on sustainable driving behavior: trade-offs between road safety, fuel consumption and emissions authored by Virginia Petraki, Apostolos Ziakopoulos and George Yannis has been published in Accident Analysis & Prevention. This paper aims to systematically review the role of driving behavior, as expressed by road crashes, fuel consumption, and vehicular emissions. A two-stage PRISMA approach was developed to shortlist the most relevant studies for systematic review out of 1,120 initial studies, with each stage focused on safety and eco-driving behavior studies. The findings suggest that the main driver behavior factors found to affect both road crashes and fuel consumption/emissions are related to average and instantaneous driving speed and acceleration, harsh acceleration and deceleration events, driving volatility, vehicular jerk, and idling during driving. Furthermore, a discussion of the knowledge gaps in the potential of an integrated methodological framework of driving behavior assessment in the context of road safety, economy, and environmental sustainability is then provided, followed by the relevant conclusions. 

Dimitris Nikolaou, Eva Michelaraki, Maria G. Oikonomou, Marios Sekadakis and Stella Roussou, Research Associates of the Department of Transportation Planning and Engineering of NTUA were awarded with the NTUA Thomaidion Award for outstanding road safety publications in scientific journals. The Awards for publications in Scientific Journals concerned:

• Nikolaou D., Ziakopoulos A., Kontaxi A., Theofilatos A., Yannis G., (2024) “Spatial analysis of telematics-based surrogate safety measures”, Journal of Safety Research, Vol. 92, pp. 98-108. 
• Yannis G., Michelaraki E., (2024) “Review of City-Wide 30 km/h Speed Limit Benefits in Europe”, Sustainability 2024, 16(11). 
• Antonakaki A., Oikonomou M. G., Garefalakis T., Yannis G., (2024) “Driving Automation Systems Penetration and Traffic Safety: Implications for Infrastructure Design and Policy”, Infrastructures 2024, 9(12), 234. 
• Sekadakis M., Kallidoni M., Katrakazas C., Trösterer S., Marx C., Moertl P., Yannis G., (2024) “The HADRIAN novel human–machine interface prototype for automated driving: safety and impact assessment”, European Transport Research Review 16, 64. 
• Roussou S., Petraki V., Deliali K., Kontaxi A., Yannis G., (2024) “Cost benefit analysis of reducing speed limits in Athens to 30 Km/h”, Case Studies on Transport Policy, 18, 101289. 

Infrastructures Journal has launched the 2nd Edition of the Special Issue titled: “Safer Roads Ahead: Exploring the Latest Innovations and Advancements in Road Design and Safety Technology, 2nd Edition” aiming to showcase recent developments, innovative methodologies, and emerging technologies that contribute to safer and more resilient road infrastructure. The submission deadline is 31 August 2026.

This Special Issue welcomes contributions on innovative approaches to road safety and infrastructure development. Relevant themes include emerging road design strategies, smart and adaptive roadway systems, and advanced safety solutions for vulnerable road users, as well as  data-driven and AI-supported methods for identifying and mitigating crash risks,, and connected and autonomous vehicle technologies. Studies focusing on human factors, behavioural insights, and environmental or climate-resilient road design are likewise encouraged.

Guest editors of this special issue are Dr. Dimitrios Nikolaou and Associate Prof. Panagiotis Papantoniou. 

Road fatalities in Greece in 2025 presented a significant decrease (21.1%) compared to 2024 figures, according to the provisional ELSTAT and Traffic Police data. This is the result of the intensification of enforcement of helmet wearing and drink-and-drive by the Police together with the new Road Traffic Code in Greece (voted in June and in force since September) which led to an astonishing improvement of driver behaviour and consequently to this very significant reduction or road crash fatalities. These highly successful initiatives of the Greek Authorities are expected to lead to a record saving of 140 lives: 525 in 2025 in comparison to 665 in 2024. With these results (50 fatalities per million population), Greece is leaving the zone of lowest performance EU countries (64 fatalities per million population), and is approaching the EU average road safety performance (45 fatalities per million population) and might be ranked for the first time ever, below the 20th position in the EU.